Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) suspended Orlando-area State Attorney Monique Worrell on Wednesday for being “soft on crime.” During a press conference at the state’s capitol in Tallahassee, DeSantis announced the suspension.
“Prosecutors have a duty to faithfully enforce the law. One’s political agenda cannot trump this solemn duty. The state of Florida is a law-and-order state,” DeSantis said. “Refusing to faithfully enforce the laws of Florida puts our communities in danger and victimizes innocent Floridians.”
DeSantis, however, was not the only one who accused Worrell of neglecting law and order. Local police unions accused the state attorney of being “soft on crime” over her refusal to prosecute Danton Viel, a man who sexually assaulted a child but was released on bond in March.
“He was on probation at the time of his arrest, yet Monique Worrell let him out,” an Orlando police union wrote in a recent Facebook Post about Viel. “Now 2 Orlando Police Officers’ lives have changed forever. Monique Worrell’s soft-on-crime stance has, yet again, let the citizens of Orlando down.”
Worell’s suspension marks the second time DeSantis has used his authority to suspend a top prosecutor. In 2022, the governor suspended Tampa-area prosecutor Andrew Warren after he said he would not charge women who violate Florida’s 15-week abortion ban — now a six-week ban. Interestingly, both Worell and Warren’s 2020 campaigns were financially backed by George Soros, according to the New York Post.
After DeSantis concluded his press conference in Tallahassee, Worrell decided to conduct one of her own, calling the governor’s decision to remove her a “loss of democracy.”
“Elected officials are being taken out of office solely for political purposes, and that should never be a thing,” Worrell said.
“There used to be a very high standard for the removal of elected officials. There used to be a standard that I would have had to been criminally prosecuted for something, neglecting my duties, meaning that I don’t show up for work and do my job, or that I had some sort of an illness that prevented me from doing my job,” she added. “But under this tyranny, elected officials can be removed simply for political purposes and by a whim of the governor, and no matter how you feel about me, you should not be okay with that.”
Worell said she plans to run for re-election in 2024. “If you know nothing else about me, you know that I am a fighter and that I intend to fight,” she said. “I will not be quiet. I will not sit down.”
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